Forum.RttP{Death Metal is still awesome...}

SWEDEATH:

Authorize - The Source of Dominion. Crunchier and not quite as melodic as a lot of Swedish death.

Bloodstone - Hour of The Gate. Lightly blackened, frantic, melodic death. GREAT album, and just put out on vinyl by the Blood Harvest label.

Carbonized - For The Security. Swedish death mixed with grind. Very interesting. Not quite classic status but dates back to the dawn of the scene.

Carnage - Dark Recollections. A total must-have for anyone who likes early Entombed and Dismember. This is basically the 3rd best album after "Left Hand Path" and "Ever-Flowing Stream."

Cemetary - An Evil Shade of Grey. This debut is very cool, melodic and atmospheric but still clearly death metal. Afterward they started to suck.

Centinex - Hellbrigade, Subconscious Lobotomy. "Hellbrigade" is pretty modern but not bad for it, still pretty fiery Swedish death. "Subconscious Lobotomy" is their obscure debut and it's very much in the Stockholm style, but tricked out with weird shit too (some keys, some operatic female vocals in one song).

Crematory - Denial. The 2nd best EP from Sweden ever, as far as I'm concerned - and we'll get to the 1st best shortly. This is dark, heavy stuff. Their demos were even better, and are hopefully to be issued on CD some day.

Crypt of Kerberos - Cyclone of Insanity. This 7" is awe-inspiring but I don't really like their lighter full length.

Darkified - A Dance On The Grave. A compilation from a very obscure band. Darkified played really wild, emotive death metal with some keyboards and harrowing vocals.

Death Breath - Stinking Up The Night. Nicke from Entombed finally gets back to his roots, more or less. Shallow but entertaining stuff.

Desultory - Into Eternity. Good 2nd tier Stockholm death metal. Riffing is about as much thrash as death but the vocals are first class and the melodies are good. Their demos are also good.

Dismember - basically everything. You know "Indecent" - their greatest album is "Like an Ever-Flowing Stream," which to me is the best thing on this list and maybe the best death metal album ever. After those two, get "The God That Never Was," "Where Ironcrosses Grow," and "Death Metal."

Edge of Sanity - Nothing But Death Remains, Unorthodox, The Spectral Sorrows. The first two are good if a bit too standard. "Spectral Sorrows" is where Edge of Sanity started to flake out, but it's still pretty great - and the cover art is classic Dan Seagrave.

Entombed - Left Hand Path, Clandestine, Wolverine Blues, Crawl. You know at least one of these. "Left Hand Path" is a monument. "Wolverine Blues" is the best death 'n roll album ever, which sounds like damning it with faint praise, but it's actually very good. "Crawl" is a great little EP with a different vocalist.

Evocation - Evocation. Demo comp from a Stockholm also-ran band. They recently reformed and did an album, which pales in comparison to these well-produced demos.

God Macabre - The Winterlong. Super heavy, tremendous album.

Goddefied - Abysmal Grief. Soon to be reissued by Blood Harvest, this sounds a lot like early Dismember. The band's also together again and working on an album to follow up this EP.

Gorement - Darkness of The Dead. Somewhere between Darkified and God Macabre.

Grave - Into The Grave, You'll Never See. The ugly monster in the basement of Swedeath. These albums are both so nasty and brutal, they're must-haves.

Grotesque - In The Embrace of Evil. A black/death standard setting band. You can get this on CD with At the Gates's "Gardens of Grief," and I strongly suggest that you do.

Interment - Conjuration of The Sepulchral. Part of a split with the Finnish-sounding band Funebrarum. Great split in all, but Interment's half is the best part: total old school sound. They're reunited and working on a new album too.

Kaamos - Kaamos, Lucifer Rising. Throwback stuff. Not my favorite but it's definitely good.

Marduk - Dark Endless. This is a cut-rate Marduk album (well most of them are), but it's interesting to hear them take on the Swedish death sound, instead of the hyper-blasting black metal they became known for.

Necrophobic - The Nocturnal Silence. Blackened death similar to Bloodstone - or imagine Dismember mixed with Dissection, maybe. Very good.

Nihilist - demos. Available on CD. These demos basically created the Swedish death sound.

Nominon - Recremation. This band's been around forever but has had a hard time getting albums out. This is their best one though - dark and bruising.

Paganizer - No Divine Rapture. The frontman for this is involved in Ribspreader and Demiurg also. All these bands are kind of samey to me, so this is just a representative selection. If you like it, check out his other projects.

Repugnant - Epitome of Darkness, Hecatomb. A later band (now split up) who combined the old Stockholm sound with more thrash and black influences. Really amazing music. "Hecatomb" edges out their full length for me because the sound is a lot better.

Seance - ForNever Laid To Rest. Atypical sound for a Swedish band (closer to some US styles really), but very very good and strongly recommended. Some swear by their second album too, but I don't.

Sorcery - Bloodchilling Tales. Meh. It's pretty good, like a sloppy Entombed.

Therion - you know them.

Unanimated - In The Forest of The Dreaming Dead. Melodeathish but good.

Uncanny - Splenium For Nyktophobia. This is edging into tech death territory but the album is so great (and so woefully obscure) that I have to recommend it at every opportunity.

Unleashed - Shadows In The Deep, Where No Life Dwells. Meat-and-potatoes death metal with catchy, basic song structures and riffs.

Utumno - Across The Horizon. Now HERE is the best EP in Swedish history, to me at least. It's 2/3 standard Swedish death, and 1/3 something else entirely... big, atmospheric riffs; interesting and kind of philosophical lyrics. The really unusual cover art says it all. Vic Records is supposed to be preparing a reissue.

(list C+P from another board)